Warami (hello in the Darug language)
We are proud to be a RAP organization and so in the closing days of 2021 we stood on Cammeraygal lands and acknowledged our responsibility, and officially launched our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
Our launch celebrated the people of the Cammeraygal and Sydney Harbour Elder, Uncle Mark Merriman, welcomed us to his country. We chose Balls Head Reserve for our launch because the people of this country lit fires here over 40,000 years ago and etched their story. Our launch was celebrated with a smoking ceremony and storytelling, and on the anniversary of Prime Minister Paul Keatings’ Redfern speech in 1992, acknowledged that Aboriginal peoples have shaped our knowledge of this continent and of ourselves. They have shaped our identity.
Our steps to reconciliation have also included the creation of our Berriwerri working group, a name we have adopted from the Darug language meaning ‘crossing place’. Berriwerri is a place to actively learn and work to achieve goals to further reconciliation. Berriwerri is joined by Mike Murri Butler, storyteller, truth-teller and cultural representative. Mike designed a cultural awareness programme for McNair yellowSquares staff. Through Mike’s programme we are learning to listen, or in Darug ‘ngarangun’, meaning we learn, think and listen together. Our journey to reconciliation recognizes the need for Aboriginal voices to speak out their experience and opinions, to be heard. Our journey acknowledges the truth about Australian history and the ongoing impact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
April 2022